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Powered by 4 - Sept. 19, 2010

2010Sep 19

COMMENTS

Sunday, September 19

Wise Approach

today's reading.Nehemiah 2:1-20 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence...Nehemiah 2

think about it.How does Nehemiah present his need and what's the king's response? Why (2:8)? What did Nehemiah do to motivate others? What can you use from this to motivate yourself or others to serve?

the blog.As we begin Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah is serving before king Artaxerxes. The king notices Nehemiah doesn't seem himself, so he asks what is wrong. Nehemiah seems surprised by the inquiry and we're told that he was afraid (vs. 2). Even so, he tells the king all that is on his heart--very respectfully and with humility. The king then gives Nehemiah leave to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls. Now at this point we've already seen some leadership skills from Nehemiah, but once he arrives in Jerusalem, we really see his leadership skills surface. I took a few minutes and wrote down some of the leadership qualities I saw. I came up with 8 or so. One that caught my attention was how he investigated the circumstances before sharing his heart with others and taking action. Another was his positive approach even though the situation was dismal.

So what did you observe from Nehemiah? How can you use Nehemiah's example in your life (as a parent, supervisor, teacher, pastor, husband, _______ you fill in the blank)? Tami W.

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